Originally Posted by
blursd 
I can tell you from experience there are A LOT of people who do stupid things, or have stupid things happen to their devices and then lie about it to the Genius/Specialist and then get belligerent when they're called on it. There are also people who legitimately have an issue, and didn't violate their warranty, but there are by far the minority and usually are easier to spot out.
If you've done any sort of work at all with repairing or diagnosing Apple products it becomes evident almost half the time at a prima face glance that someone is lying. If a device really has been dunked in water, or dropped onto a hard surface you can deny it all you want, but the truth is right there in front of you. I understand no one likes having bad things happen to them, and most of the time the damage is unintentional ... just man up to it, and you're half way to a better experience when you go in for service.
I can't even count how many times I would open up computers or iPods and all the components would either be completely corroded or still covered in moisture, and the owners who get angry and continue to emphatically deny their device had ever come in contact with liquid. Its one thing when its an ambigous reading on a moisture sensor ... its another when theres a half cup of water still inside your device. They would swear up and down it had never been within a thousand miles of water, and I was trying to "cheat" them. Thats not exactly the best way to get someone to want to help you ...
Others are more comical yet more annoying. There was a person who brought in their three year, four month old computer that had been smashed into pieces, and then proceeded to tell us that not only was Apple to blame for it, but we also had to replace it with a brand new 15" MacBook Pro (she had a 15" PowerBook) and recover all the data and preinstall all her lost programs. We when we confronted her with the fact her computer had no AppleCare on it, that even if it had been covered by AppleCare; 1) AppleCare wouldn't cover accidental damage, and 2) any AppleCare she could have purchased for it would have expired four months prior. She became belligerent and started a diatribe about how Apple had "cheated" her, and it was ridiculous, and she was going to sue us personally and Apple ... blah. blah, blah.
Her view might seem melodramatic, but it is rather evocative of a common trend of customer who bring their devices in for repair -- the attitude that someone bad happened to their device that isn't covered under warranty, but Apple should still be required to fix it for free. And we're talking about some pretty spectacular and comprehensive damage in some cases. I found that car analogies tended to work quite well in getting the point across. I told this woman, "Could you buy a new car from a dealer, drive it for three years and four months, then get in an accident and take it back to the dealer and damand that they fix it for free?" Then she started going off on how cars have insurance and that AppleCare is like insurance, so it should be covered. Of course, then I had to point out that car insurance is specifically designed for covering accidents whereas AppleCare was simply an extension (not indefinite) of the factory warranty. "It's not like you can buy an iMac, walk out the door, then smash it on the sidewalk, walk back in, and say 'I'd like to have to repaired for free.'" "Why not?" she said. "Because accidental damage is not covered by AppleCare." She insightfully responded, "so if I intentionally damage my computer I AM covered!" "No," I said "if you intentionally damage your computer you're an idiot."
THESE are the type of people that cause Apple to take these actions, and they are far more common than you might believe. It was far more refreshing, and I was more inclined to help the ones that would at least tell the truth -- sometimes though the damage was so extensive there wasn't any way to help them.
If you go in and say, "Look, I know this isn't covered, but I was using my iPod and I dropped it, and now the touch interface doesn't work anymore." 9 times out of 10 the genius will try everything they can think of to fix it (within what they're allowed to do). If you come in and say "I bought this last week and now the touch screen doesn't work anymore, and you better fix it for free (even though you know you dropped it" the genius will only do as much as is required, and send you on your way with your broken iPod.
Usually, people who do or have stupid things happen to their things will find some way to blame it all on someone else no matter how much it was their own fault. I can remember;
1) The lady who tried to convince me her soft plastic cover for her solid aluminum MacBook Pro had caused the uniform 15 degree bend down the center of her computer.
2) The man who told me his iPod Touch was defective because the sides of the device did not respond to input.
3) The person who dropped their 24" iMac when they got home, and smashed the screen into oblivion - yet somehow it was Apple's fault.
4) The lady who accused me of breaking her computer when I opened it in front of her and the logic board was covered in milk ... "I didn't do that," she said "YOU did!"
5) The man who peeled back to sides to his aluminum PowerBook because he couldn't figure out how to replace the hard drive, and demanded Apple fix the damage, and replace the casing.
I could go on all day ...
